Ablegamers is a website devoted to the issues of gaming while disabled, and …

Share this story

Video gaming is a mainstream hobby, but what happens when your needs fall outside of the mainstream? There are gamers who are color blind, who can't hear, or who simply have difficulty with their motor control skills. Gamers with special needs have to be sure the games they buy will accommodate them, and that's where Ablegamers comes in: the website reviews and rates games based on their accessibility, using a variety of criteria.

The site has recently given out the award for the most accessible game of the year. The winner? You may be surprised to learn that it's EA and Bioware's Dragon Age: Origins.

"What makes this title so exceptional is the level of options given to the gamer to choose their level of accessibility," the announcement explained. "Options are the key component to adding accessibility without harming the overall gameplay of a title." Ars caught up with Mark Barlet, the Editor in Chief of Ablegamers, to discuss the issue of accessible games, and what developers can do to make their games appeal to the widest possible audience.

Getting developer and publisher support

Is this something developers care about? Barlet describes the issue as one of economics. "I am sure they care. The issue really is 'is this important?' Looking at the pace that games are built, accessibility is easy to push into the 'nice to have' column," he told Ars. "With five times the entire subscriber base of World of Warcraft disabled in the US, this is a huge mistake."

The industry is also becoming more open to the idea of accessible games. "When we started five years ago, developers were sometimes speechless when we would approach them. Now they know who we are, and have started asking the right questions." He also notes that some in the industry have taken a step backwards: Infinity Ward's Modern Warfare 2 uses green and red arrows on the in-game map, making it impossible to read if you're color blind. Call of Duty: World at War actually had the option to change the coloring of the arrows to green and orange—which are easily distinguished by the color blind, but that option was removed from the newer title, as was the ability to toggle aiming down your weapon's sights.

We looked at gaming and color blindness in a past article, with examples of what a few games look like to some forms of color blindness. It's an issue that's much more common in males, with an estimated 8 percent of men suffering from some form of color blindness.

The problem is the wide variety of issues disabled gamers face. "For example, most deaf gamers want subtitles, but for the nondeaf gamer those are not critical. There is no number one... because every gamer has a different play style, and that holds true for the gamer with a disability," Barlet said.

What Dragon Age did right

The game not only offers subtitles, but multiple layers of them, including subtitles for ambient noises and during cut scenes. The characters can be controlled with a mouse or by using the keyboard, and on-screen keyboards work perfectly with the game, for gamers who can't manipulate a standard keyboard. The improved fonts mean every word can be read, regardless of color impairment.

The ability to pause the action also earns the game high marks. "Perhaps the most underrepresented disability in mainstream games, cognitive impaired gamers can pause the action quickly and as often as necessary in the heat of the battle," the announcement states. "Orders can be issued during the pause, allowing anyone to keep up with the game no matter the level of cognitive impairment."

The main strength of the game is the number of options you have regarding your controls. This is crucial, Barlet says. "It is all about options. The more options you have, like re-mappable keys, mouse-only play, even mouse sensitivity settings—all of these options, along with some solid design principals like subtitles, means more gamers can play the game. Not all gamers will use them, but for those that need to use them it is good that they are there."